


Wedding Goggles

by stylesandtommo123



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, Larry Stylinson - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: M/M, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, stylinson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 10:39:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12505532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylesandtommo123/pseuds/stylesandtommo123
Summary: He thinks when people fall in love, they burst into flames. And he’s drowning in gasoline right now, burning as the rest of the world around him is calm. He’s in ashes as he watches Louis, melting into the ground from his spot on the couch. It never occurred to Harry that stars still shine in the daylight when we can’t see them, because as he sees Louis dance he knows he is the stars. Louis is the stars, the sun, the moon, the forest, ocean, everything, and Harry’s suffocating in a universe that has suddenly become joint.Or; an AU where they meet at a wedding, everything moves fast and slow all at once, and they build the universe.





	Wedding Goggles

Louis

When Louis gets invited to his ex-best friend Steve’s wedding, he expects it to be nothing less than a drag. He hasn’t even seen Steve since high school- they’d been friends since elementary school, but broke it off when Louis moved from Doncaster. So when Steve calls him 6 years later, he’s a little more than surprised.

He marks himself as “coming alone”, obviously, because he hasn’t seen a dick that’s not either his own or a pornstars’ in about a year. So yes, he’s coming alone, but he’s going to look fucking great. Louis knows that there’s going to be so many couples and his only love interest will be the bottom of a shot glass, but him and Steve were best friends for 15 years so he’s going to go.

Louis is an english professor, and all he can do for the month leading up to the wedding is dread how lonely he’s going to be.

Harry

Harry hasn’t known Steve in a long time. In fact, he’s not even sure he ever did know Steve. In 2011 Harry was fresh out of high school, and decided to work at a small little unknown coffee shop called Blue Line in their little town of Cheshire where Steve was manager. Since he worked 8 hour shifts with Steve and no customers ever showed up, they had to bond or they’d lose their minds. Harry worked there for 3 years, so him and Steve got to know each other, but never hung out outside of work. He hasn’t seen Steve since 2014, when he left Blue Line to be a professional baker and took over a bakery called Brickhouse. Considering the fact that they never even bothered giving each other their phone numbers or hanging outside of work, Harry’s a little surprised to get an invitation for the wedding.

The wedding is set for December, only a month from when Harry gets the RSVP. Just a month ago he would have checked that he was bringing two, as he’d been in a two year relationship until he walked in on his fiance, Tom, having sex with another man in their bed. So Harry moved to a town called Doncaster, where he lived in a tiny studio apartment.

Harry doesn’t want to go. He doesn’t want to look at what could have been him and Tom. He doesn’t want to see Steve and Jessica have their special dance, say their “I do’s”because he knows that him and Tom would be doing the same thing in a couple months. But they’re not. Harry marks that he’s going anyways, because maybe December Harry will feel better.

 

Louis

December 15th, Louis is ready for the wedding. He finds the best suit he can- it hasn’t been worn in so long it’s dusted over, but he still fits it great. Steve and Louis finally live in Doncaster together after Steve had moved back from Cheshire, so it doesn’t take him long to get there.

The second he steps in, he knows it’s fancier than he can handle. There’s a harp player, a giant blue cake, and everyone is wearing dresses and tuxes fancier than Louis has ever dreamed. Not that he dreams about them often, but still, the point stands.

“Dude!” Louis feels a slap on his back, and when he spins around Steve is standing in front of him. Louis hasn’t seen Steve in six years, but six years ago he was definitely not like this. When Louis knew Steve he was a booknerd who wore his long hair down and always wore ugly sweaters. Now Steve is 6’5, has a beard better than Louis could ever grow in his entire life span, and a girl hanging off of him.

“Steve, hey,” They hug, and it’s awkward of course, but they pull away quickly, “How’s it been? Obviously you got hot, you’re fucking married.”  
They make small-talk for a solid half hour, before the Bride-to-be Jessica tears him away so they can start the reception. It’s as cheesy as every wedding always is, but after the “I do’s” comes the drinking. The excessive, excessive drinking. And cupcakes. There’s cupcakes, and Louis eats so many because he thinks that maybe he can fill himself to the brim so he focuses on food and not the pain in his chest.  
It doesn’t take long for Louis to notice the man sitting next to him. He’s tugging at a curl on his head with one hand, scrolling through Twitter on his phone with a blank face.

He thinks maybe he’s the most beautiful man Louis has ever seen,and holy shit he smells good. But Louis knows this doesn’t work. He knows the Wedding Goggles theory is strong in this room.

Wedding Goggles; noun:  
When a couple goes to a wedding together, and thinks they want to be married because they see other married couples

Louis believes it. If you see a couple happy, you think maybe you can be that happy too. That’s why Louis refuses to ever take a date to a wedding or hook up with someone, but the boy next to him is looking like a good candidate. But he can’t. So he gets up and goes to Steve, trying to mingle while simultaneously trying to pull the knives out from his heart.

 

Harry

December Harry doesn’t like the idea of going to a wedding any more than November Harry did. When December 15th rolls around and Harry puts his suit on, all he can do is look in the mirror and wonder when life got this bad. But he goes anyways. He notices immediately that the church is very fancy, everyone in glamorous suits and dresses and Harry in the suit he wore to prom years ago.

Harry doesn’t even bother trying to find Steve and congratulate him, instead he heads for the bar and starts downing drinks. He notices right away when the boy sits down next to him. Every thought about Tom Harry ever had is wiped away, because this man has stunning blue eyes and he looks just as unamused about the wedding. They make eye contact, and before they have the chance to speak the man gets up and goes to mingle with Steve.

So back Harry goes, looking at the bottom of shot glasses drink after drink.

 

\--

It takes a full hour for the man to come back. Harry wants to know his name, his age, how many kids he wants- but he doesn’t ask any of those

“Everyone looks so in love,” Harry says to the man, and they’re making eye contact again, “Every couple comes to weddings and the atmosphere is toxic, it’s infectious.

“The wedding goggles theory,” The man says, “It’s why I don’t hook up with a guy at a wedding. He’s gonna wanna get married, because of the atmosphere. Everyone here is in love, and I’m not trying to get married to a person I just wanted to fuck, y’know?”

Harry can’t stop himself from beaming,”Exactly! I do the opposite. I don’t hook up with people at weddings because I know that I fall in love to fast, and after seeing a wedding i would want to marry them that second. I have no self control.”

“I like you,” The man is grinning now, and it’s infectious, “I’m Louis. How do you know Steve?”

“I’m Harry. We worked together for a few years a while back, but we never hung out outside of work so I have no idea why he invited me.”

Louis nods, “Same. We were friends since kindergarten, but like 7 years ago we completely cut off all communication. I thought he hated me, but here I am- at his wedding, without a date. Not that I would bring one anyways, with the wedding goggles theory and all.”

Harry thinks maybe Louis was the kind of man who walks into a room and all the walls fall down. He’s stunning, it seems like every word that comes out of his mouth for the next hour or two is amazing no matter what the subject is.

“Let’s get out of here,” Harry cuts Louis off mid-sentence, after they’d been talking for two hours. He has the sudden urge to shelter Louis from everyone else and keep him for himself, “We won’t fall in love. We won’t feel the love atmosphere or hook up or kiss, let’s go get coffee. Think about it. The worst part of a hookup is the morning after, so let’s just not have one. Let’s go out, and then we’ll part ways and never talk again. Let’s disprove the wedding goggles theory.”

“Harry…” Louis hesitates only for a couple seconds, and Harry’s heart shatters.

Louis

Louis is in love. The goddamn Wedding Goggles Theory is in full effect, and his heart is being fucking squeezed like never before.

“Harry…” Louis hesitates,and Harry frowns, “You know what? Yeah! Let’s go get coffee. We won’t have a morning after if we go until morning, right? Then we part ways. I won’t tell you my last name or my phone number, we’ll have no way to communicate. “

Harry’s beaming, and it’s the most beautiful thing Louis has ever seen. So they say their goodbyes, and run out. Louis had gotten an uber there, so they sit in Harry’s car.

They go to the only 24-hour coffee shop in town, a cute little store with no customers in sight. It’s almost 2am yet it’s pouring, so they decide to sit in the booth in the back so they can watch the rain fall.

Louis has never felt such a connection with someone before. He’s never met someone so intelligent, so interested in the world around them.

“So Plato talked about these beings that used to exist that had four legs and four arms and two heads,” Harry says at one point, “ They were totally self-contained and ecstatic and powerful. Too powerful, so Zeus cut them all in half and scattered all the halves around the world so that humans were doomed to forever look for their other half, the one who shared their very soul. Only the luckiest humans find their split-apart.”

Louis hums, “That’s really interesting. Do you think you’ve found your other half? Or do you think you’d even know if you found them?”

“Yeah,” Harry’s eyes are shining, bright green forests and Louis is lost, he’s drowning, “Yeah, I think you’d know. I thought I knew. I was dating someone for two years, engaged to them for 6 months, I thought he was my half. I had myself so hooked on him, he was like cocaine, once I found him cheating I had to rebuild myself. I had to cut my body in half all over again. But I don’t think he was my half. I think I liked the routine, but I don’t know if I liked him as much as my brain told me I did. I do think he was made to be in my life, we could’ve been happy but… I don’t know. Maybe sitting here now I don’t miss him too much.”

Louis’ ears are ringing. He takes a drink of his coffee, digs his fingernails into his thighs, trying to bring himself back to shore. He doesn’t think he can resist a man who has tidal waves and earthquakes beneath the skin, the moon in his eyes and lightning in his hands. They talk until it’s 5am and the sun is rising, but Louis doesn’t feel tired. He feels like there’s TNT in his bloodstream, and Harry’s about to blow him up.

“We should go home,” Harry whispers, tracing shapes into Louis’ hand, “So I can forget about you, y’know? Wedding goggles theory and all.”

“Fuck the wedding goggles. I’m in love with you,” Louis says, but all that comes out is “Yeah, okay.”

So they leave. They get into Harry’s car and when they get to Louis’ flat, they don’t kiss. They say goodbye, and Louis gets out of the car to run upstairs and lock his door so he doesn’t run back downstairs.

Harry

Harry sits in the parking lot of Louis’ flat building for twenty minutes. He waits for Louis to come back down and confess his love, but it doesn’t happen. They didn’t exchange numbers or names, so all Harry’s left with is the selfie they took in the rain.

“For memories,” Louis had said “I want you to remember me only with good memories. This should be one.” Louis took it before Harry was ready, so it’s Louis sticking his tongue out and Harry staring at Louis like he hung the stars. Harry’s sad, but he knows that Louis is right. Love is shit.

 

-

Days pass and Harry still hasn’t forgotten about Louis. The picture of them is his lockscreen now, because every time he opens his phone he’s reminded that Louis is out there somewhere. He’s suffering.it takes 14 days for him to call Steve.

“Hello, Harold!” Steve sounds happy, so obviously the marriage is still a go, “What can I do for you, my friend?”

“Do you know everyone that went to the wedding?” Harry pauses, “Do you know anything about Louis? Anything. His last name, where he works, anything.”

Steve laughs, “Yeah, definitely! We used to be best friends. His name is Louis Tomlinson, he’s 25, he’s an english professor at Brunel university. He’s such a good kid, Harry. Don’t hurt him.”

“I’ll try not to,” Harry says, and it’s the most sincere thing he’s ever said.

He hangs up, and immediately looks up Brunel university to see if he can find anything about Louis. He learns that Louis is in room A233, which is a start. He decides that tomorrow he’ll go see Louis.

-

The next day, Harry’s filled with nerves. What if Louis was serious about never wanting to see him again? Or worse,what if Louis doesn’t even remember him? He decides to go see Louis anyways, when he knows there will be no students.

Harry thinks meeting your soulmate is like walking into a house you've been in before - you will recognize the furniture, the pictures on the wall, the books on the shelves, the contents of drawers: You could find your way around in the dark if you had to. Harry thought Tom was his soulmate, but as he walks in and sees Louis with his glasses on, grading homework, he feels the familiarity. He knows. He stands in the doorway for a good minute before he decides to knock.

“Mr. Tomlinson?” Harry says softly, and Louis’ head snaps up, like he recognized the voice.

“Oh thank fucking god,” Louis gets up and they’re running to each other, colliding somewhere in the middle of the room, backing up until they’re against the wall.

Harry’s so glad they never kissed before, because this is everything he’d been dreaming of. Louis is as close as he can possibly be and somehow gets closer, crashing into Harry like waves and he’s drowning, just like the first night they met.

“How did you find me?” Louis gasps out, but doesn’t wait for an answer, “You know what? I don’t care. I missed you so much.”  
They pull back until their eyes meet and hold, and the world starts to fall away, time does, years rolling up like rugs, until everything that’s happened unhappens, and for a moment, it’s them again, more one than two. Louis smells exactly like Harry remembered- peach and coffee and home, he’s so homely.

“Let’s go home,” Louis eyes are pleading, his fingers digging into Harry’s hip so hard he’s about to break skin, “My house. Yours. I don’t care.”

Maybe Louis missed Harry as much as he missed him.

 

Louis

They go back to Louis’ flat since it’s closer, and suddenly he doesn’t care about the hundreds of assignments he had to grade. All he cares is that when they get home Harry’s on top of him, breathing him in like they should’ve gone weeks ago.

“The wedding goggles theory is fucking stupid,” Harry whispers, “I should’ve kissed you that night. God, I missed your voice.”

All Louis can do is laugh, until they’re both lying in the bed in hysterics for no reason at all. Louis missed this. He missed feeling like home with Harry, and even though they’d never even touched before he feels like he’s at home in Harry’s arms. They lie for hours, their limbs tangled until they can’t tell what’s what.

“Remember when you told me about that plato thing? About finding your half again?” Louis says softly, and Harry hums in agreement, “I think I found mine. You were right, you definitely know when you’ve found it. And I’ve found mine, Harry, in you. I know that you’re the half I’m supposed to fit with.”

“Even this early? Even after only seeing me twice now?”

“Yes,” Louis doesn’t hesitate, pulls his head from Harry’s neck so they’re eye to eye, “Yes, I know. It’s you. It’s been you, Harry why did I let you slip through my fingers.”

Harry beams at that, and they get closer than Louis thought possible. As Harry is running his hands through Louis’ hair, and he thinks maybe that first night he was blind to not see what was standing right in front of him.

\--  
Harry

One year later Louis meets Harry’s parents. But it’s different than with Tom because Harry isn’t nervous, he doesn’t think his parents will hate Louis. Because ke knows Louis has been part of the family all along, even if they didn’t know it. And he’s right, Louis instantly is at home- bickering with Gemma, baking with Anne, and watching football with Robin. It’s amazing. All Harry can do it sit on the couch and watch as Louis throws flour at Gemma and giggles away, screaming for his life as he takes shelter behind Anne.

He thinks when people fall in love, they burst into flames. And he’s drowning in gasoline right now, burning as the rest of the world around him is calm. He’s in ashes as he watches Louis, melting into the ground from his spot on the couch. It never occured to Harry that stars still shine in the daylight when we can’t see them, because as he sees Louis dance he knows he is the stars. Louis is the stars, the sun, the moon, the forest, ocean, everything, and Harry’s suffocating in a universe that has suddenly become joint. He knows then, as Louis falls to the ground to share a cookie with the dog, that he would give up his universe for Louis.

“Everything okay?” Louis comes over eventually, situating himself into the Louis-sized crevice in Harry’s side. It’s built itself there over time, “You’re quiet today. I don’t like it.”

Harry takes Louis’ glasses off so their foreheads can press together, and they mold together to become one person like they always do. It’s familiar, the melting. They’re melting into the atmosphere, and Harry’s okay with that.

“I love you,” Harry manages to get out, even though there’s not only a frog in his throat, but a whole zoo.

“I love you back,” Louis’ eyebrows furrow, “What’s up?”

“I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you. For all the times I never said it, I love you,” Harry gets close again, feeling his body turn from a solid to a liquid to a gas, until he’s air in the spot Louis is holding, “I want to love you until I have dementia and can’t remember my name. I want to give up my hands for you, my whole being, the whole universe. I would grab you the stars and make holes in my hands if you asked.”

“I’m not asking,” Louis laughs, still confused, “Please don’t. I don’t want you to cut your hands off. You’re being strange.”

Even as Louis says it, he agrees. He’d give up his universe for Harry too. Harry just hums, throwing the blanket over them so Louis is hidden from everyone, warm and safe from the dangers of the oxygen outside. When the whole family sits down to watch Nightmare Before Christmas together, all Harry can do is look at the lights of the christmas tree and feel Louis’ hands burning into his sides.

\--

When he wakes up the next morning he goes out into the living room, where he can hear soft talks from the porch.

“Harry is an absolute saint. He’s my favorite of all the saints,” Louis says. “Patron saint of lost causes. The saint to call on when all hope is gone. The one in charge of miracles, you know? It’s like he made the whole universe, built it from the ground up and got me stuck in his orbit. I love him.”

“I know,” Anne says softly, “Even from the first night you met, I knew. He called me and told me he met a boy with a sun for a soul and an ocean for eyes. Don’t hurt him, Louis. Please. He can’t take another tidal wave like Tom. He drowned before, and he will again. But he won’t find the surface.”

“Okay,” Louis says back just as soft, and it sounds like a promise.

 

\--


End file.
